The Speicherstadt is an UNESCO World Heritage and a Must Do of Hamburg

The Speicherstadt in Hamburg, Germany, is a large district of warehouses from around 1900. Some are still in use, but others have been converted to apartments. It's a "typical" location and definitely worth a visit. It also houses attractions, such as the "Hamburg Dungeon" and the "Miniatur Wunderland".

The whole historic warehouse-district is on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

- The Hamburg Dungeon is a live-action presentation of the "darker times" of Hamburg. It is probably mostly suited for a younger, easily impressed audience. But it might not be suitable for young children.www.the-dungeons.de

- The Miniatur Wunderland is the world's largest model railway layout. The panoramas include parts of Hamburg, the Alps, the American west, and a Scandinavian exhibit which features automated ships on a body of water. It is in the Speicherstadt close to the Hamburg Dungeon.www.miniatur-wunderland.com

- Behind the Speicherstadt is the area of Hamburg's HafenCity. It is Europe's largest project of city development, creating a whole new quarter from scratch in a former harbor region. The Kesselhaus also houses an exhibition (Am Sandtorkai 30, in the Speicherstadt, Open Tu-Su 10AM-6PM, free admission.ww.hafencity.de/...

- The Hamburg Cruise Center, where cruise lines land in Hamburg, is in the HafenCity. Its terminal building is constructed out of 40 sea containers. Nearby, directly at the river Elbe, you find an orange observation tower called HafenCity View Point, allowing nice views on the HafenCity, the harbor, and the river (free admission).

Behind the warehouse district a totally new quarter, the HafenCity , is being shaped and erected on unused industrial ground, nerved by channel, docks and basins. Outstanding architecture in maritime surrounding is typical for this area. A new concert hall built on a landpeak into the Elbe-river, the Elb-Philharmonie, will become the new architectural lighthouse of Hamburg. On the top of a huge old warehouse a 110 meters tall modern philharmonic hall with glass facade and waveshaped roof is being built.

Looking from Alte Deichstraße over the Zollkanal to the right, you can see the modern buildings belonging to the Hanseatic Trade Center ending to the right at the Kehrwiederspitze.

Looking further right, you already see the modern harbor. Walking in this direction takes you to the river, Elbe. At the opposite of the metro station "Baumwall", there's Hamburg's city and yacht harbor ("City und Sportboothafen"). The big red lighthouse ship ("Feuerschiff") hosts a restaurant today.

Some yards further down the Elbe, you get to the Überseebrücke where formerly big cruise liners docked when coming to Hamburg. Permanently docked is the museum ship Cap San Diego, which is said to be last classic cargo ship.